Bar Harbor May Need Yet Another Land Use Ordinance
Temporary Camping Vehicles Are Not Currently Addressed in the LUO
BAR HARBOR—An RV appeared on a Friday afternoon in May. May 31 to be exact. Sweeping in from far away, big, shiny, and landing in a small clearing like a UFO. It immediately caused a rush of feelings and chatter.
But was it doing anything wrong, breaking any rules? Not currently.
The Town of Bar Harbor does not have a land use ordinance that deals with what may come to be called “temporary camping vehicles” and the use of them on private property. Historically, Code Enforcement Officer Angie Chamberlain would treat requests to allow people to stay in a recreational vehicle (RV) or camping trailer on a case-by-case basis and would always try and dissuade this use in the downtown areas of Bar Harbor.
Then, in April of 2023, the MDI YMCA applied to the Design Review Board to be allowed to park an RV on the east side of the YMCA building to use as employee housing for the summer. Because the YMCA is on town-owned land, the town manager had to authorize this request first. At the time, Finance Director Sarah Gilbert was acting as interim town manager, and she sent the request to the Town Council and asked that the Council hear the proposal and direct her to sign off, or not, on the request.
Also at this time, Chamberlain, stating that she has seen an increased request to use RVs as employee housing over the course of the last couple of years, prepared a memo to Gilbert and the town council and made it clear that she “strongly discouraged the use of RVs for temporary housing in the downtown area to avoid potential adverse impacts to abutting properties in the denser areas of town.”
Chamberlain went on to write in her memo that “allowing RVs to be used for housing in all areas of town without limitation could have unintended negative consequences.”
At the April 18, 2023, Town Council meeting, the Council heard the YMCA’s request. Because the RV was intended to be used for employee housing for the duration of the summer season, the YMCA would be required to connect the RV to the town’s wastewater system and have an electrical connection and possibly a water connection installed on site. These additions would require a building permit from the code enforcement office.
The Council listened to the proposal and during discussion, then Councilor Jill Goldthwait said she had nothing negative to say about the YMCA. The site has some unique characteristics that made her feel like she could support it. She said there are no immediate neighbors and that she had the vaguest of anxieties about if they are starting something here. There are immediate neighbors of the YMCA, however. Homes with a view of the Y’s trailer exist along both Main Street, School Street, and Edgewood.
Vice Chair Gary Friedmann said that the ask reflects that there is a housing crisis in the town that was not being dealt with quickly enough. He said he strongly supported the RV at the YMCA.
Councilor Matt Hochman said that it seemed as if the code enforcement officer was encouraging the Council to not approve it.
Hochman then showed some concern when he said he was concerned with the precedent that will be set. “Once you open the floodgates, it’s very hard to close them again.”
Council Chair Valerie Peacock said that they as the Council when voting aren’t voting to allow the use, they are just giving the YMCA permission to apply and that these sorts of things aren’t normally coming before the Council.
Friedmann moved to authorize the town manager to allow the YMCA to apply for installation. Goldthwait seconded and it passed unanimously.
The YMCA next went before the Design Review Board on April 27. That board was only tasked with approving some utility connections for the RV. During this meeting, Town Planner Michele Gagnon said, “We’re not comfortable with those in the downtown; I don’t know how you’re going to deal with this.”
The Design Review Board unanimously approved the utility hook-ups but not before many member stated that the decision to allow or not allow the use of an RV in the downtown area was not what the board was voting on and is not within the board’s purview.
The YMCA went on to get all of the necessary permits, made the appropriate utility upgrades, and used the RV for housing that summer. The YMCA intends to use the RV again this summer for employee housing and the town manager comments from the December 5, 2023, town council meetings state that Town Manager James Smith had already authorized “the YMCA to request a building permit to again have an RV for next year’s summer employees.”
AN RV ARRIVES
On May 31, a truck and camper trailer pulled into the empty lot at the corner of School Street and Edgewood Street and would soon set up camp. This was not well received by an abutting neighbor who had previously (prior to this year) been told that he could not allow visitors to stay in a tent for a couple of days on his property.
He was not the only neighbor or town resident who was upset with this development, judging by comments on social media.
For background, that empty lot and a closely situated house recently changed ownership due to the death of the previous owner.
On June 3, Deputy Code Enforcement Officer Mike Gurtler said that he “spoke with the camper owner this morning. They are relatives of the property owner and plan to visit for the week. They are not using the camper’s bathroom facilities. They are using the owner’s house for restroom, shower, etc.”
The Bar Harbor Story asked Gurtler, “Would this activity, under these same specifics, apply to all zones within Bar Harbor proper (the downtown area)?”
Gurtler responded, “There is no clear answer to your question unfortunately. The Town Council granted approval for the YMCA to use an RV for employee housing last summer (same district). The LUO neither allows nor forbids an RV used in this manner. Since this is a temporary use, no compensation is being provided, and there is no wastewater concern, our office is not going to pursue any further action at this time unless something changes.”
Chamberlain said that she feels that since the Council approved the use of the RV for the YMCA on town property, despite her memo saying that she did not recommend the approval, that she cannot currently deny this use for property owners.
As of today, that camper is in day 15 of a one-week stay.
THE POSSIBLE SOLUTION
Previous to any of this, Chamberlain had already started to craft a governing ordinance for the use of temporary camping vehicles. She feels that there are certain times when the use of a camper should be permitted, such as someone building a house and wanting to live in a camper on the property while the house is being built.
Chamberlain also feels that there are certain areas where the use should not be allowed at all and in the areas where the use would be temporarily allowed, there would be requirements and rules to be followed.
Regarding the use of tents instead of an RV, Chamberlain said, “We would definitely not allow anyone to live in a tent for the simple fact that there is no provision for sanitary facilities. That’s the bare minimum, but depending on the situation, there would likely be other reasons that we would not allow it.” Kids camping out overnight in their own yard or similar innocuous uses would be allowed.
Below is the draft copy of the potential regulations. Like any other land use ordinance change or introduction, there would be many hurdles to clear before it could be voted on and potentially enacted.
CURRENT REGULATION
The Bar Harbor Municipal Code, Chapter 147, says the following:
“No persons shall use or permit to be used any public thoroughfare, public street, beach, cemetery, public land or any other public place in the Town of Bar Harbor for the purpose of overnight accommodation or a temporary or permanent abode or habitation, except with the written permission of the Town Council of the Town of Bar Harbor.”
This ordinance applies to all places except private property and while some may argue that since the town owns the property where the YMCA is located, it should be considered public, the YMCA does hold a lease on the property and therefore it is its property for the terms of the lease. Either way, the Council has approved the YMCA’s RV usage.
DISCLAIMER: We live almost directly across from the camper pictured and featured in this article. While we asked the town as press for this article, we did not make any complaints about it.
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Meanwhile those that have proposed additional campgrounds on MDI, shot down by opposing abutters, might think, what goes around comes around……
Curious as to how all of this applies to the two campers that have been situated across from the Church of Our Father in Hull's Cove this summer and last? Approved or not?